Davenport bed



DAVENPORT BED WT I l Filed May l5, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet l FIE M. FOX

DAVENPORT BED Oct. 5, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May l5. 1963 M. FOX

DAVENPORT BED Oct. 5, 1965 4 Sheets-Shea?I 55 Filed May 15, 1963 M. FOX

DAVENPORT BED 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 15, 1963 FEE United StatesPatent O 3,209,377 DAVENPRT BED Martin Fox, Chicago, Ill., assignor toThe Seng Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 15, 1963, Ser. No.280,652 3 Claims. (Cl. 5-13) This invention relates to a davenport bed,and in particular it relates to such a bed in which the sleeping surfaceextends longitudinally between the davenport arms and in which the basehas a one-piece front rail behind which the folding bed mechanism iscompletely concealed in davenport position.

A common objection to davenport beds which have a folding bed frame isthat in davenport position the convertible nature of the piece isapparent because the front rail is longitudinally split. The base has avery low fixed front rail, and a front board carried on the folding bedframe extends upwardly from the front rail of the base. Accordingly,even though the lixed front rail and the movable front board areupholstered in the same fabric the line of division between them isplainly visible which makes it obvious that the piece is convertible.

The present invention provides a davenport bed in which the base has arelatively high fixed front rail, and the entire folding bed mechanismoccupies a space behind the front rail and substantially entirely belowthe plane of the top surface of said rail.

The principal object of the present invention, therefore, is to providea davenport bed in which the base has a fixed front rail that completelyconceals the bed mechanism in davenport position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a davenport bed in whichan inner bed section is supported upon rear links and front links formovement between a bed position entirely above the front rail and afolded position a substantial distance below the plane `of the top ofthe front rail, so that the articulated intermediate and outer bedsections, the latter of which overlies the inner section in davenportposition, may be substantially entirely below said plane.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of a davenport embodying theinvention with the articulated bed sections in bed position, takensubstantially as illustrated along the line 1-1 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view on an enlarged scale, takensubstantially as indicated along the line 2 2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a pontion of FIG. 2,showing the inner bed section and the links by means of which said bedsection is supported upon the davenport base;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but with the folding bed in anintermediate position between bed position and folded position;

FIG. 5 is a View similar to FIGS. 1 and 4 with the bed in foldedposition; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 with the bed in a positionintermediate the positions shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, a base, indicated generallyat 10, has a pair of parallel end rails such as the end rail 11, a backrail 12 and a front rail 13. Also included in the base are arms 14 andan inclined back rest 15. A convertible bed mechanism, indicatedgenerally at 16, takes the form of a prefabricated subassembly which ismounted in the base by a pair of supporting brackets 17 that are securedto the end rails at 17a and to the front rail 13 at 17b (see FIG. 3).

A folding bed mechanism, indicated generally at 18, is of a conventionaltype which has its side rails extending longitudinally between the endsof the base, so that the head of the bed is adjacent one arm and thefoot adjacent the other arm of the danvenport. Thus, the folding bed hasan inner section 19, an intermediate hinge section 20, and an outersection 21; and as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5 when the bed is folded theinner section 19 is at the bottom, the hinge section 20 extendsgenerally upright at the front of the davenport base, and the outersection 21 overlies the inner section and is generally parallel thereto.'I'he outer section has outer folding legs 22 operated by links 23 thatare pivotally connected to the legs and to the hinge section 20; andintermediate legs 22a are operated by auxiliary links 23a from the links23.

The inner bed section 19 is carried upon the supporting brackets 17 bymeans of a pair of rear links 24 which are pivoted on the brackets at 25and pivotally connected to the ends of the inner bed section 19 at 26,immediately adjacent the inner side rail of the bed. Likewise supportingthe inner bed section 19 are front links 27 which are pivotally mountedupon the bracket 17 at 28 and pivotally connected to the inner bedsection 19 at 29. The rear links 24 carry fixed plates 30, and pivots 31on said fixed plates receive the inner ends of actuating links 32 whichare pivoted at 33 to hook shaped locking plates 34 that are mounted uponthe ends of the inner bed section by pivots 35. As best seen in FIGS. 4and 5, the locking plates 34 are rolled outwardly in movement fromintermediate position to folded position of the bed, and in doing sothey engage locking studs 36 which pivotally connect adjacent ends of alocking link 37 and a guide link 38 that are connected, respectively, tothe outer bed section 21 at 39 and to the intermediate hinge section 20at 40.

The xed plates 30 and the rear links 24 also carry spring studs 41, andtension springs 42 engage said studs and studs 43 on fixed plates 44connected to the front links 27. The fixed plates 44 are connected by atie rod 45 which gives necessary rigidity to the link assembly.

Comparison of FIGS. 1 or 4 with FIG. 5 shows that in bed position therear links 24 extend upwardly and forwardly, while the front links 27extend upwardly and rearwardly, so that the rear and front linksconverge in bed position; while in folded position the rear links 24extend downwardly and rearwardly in a nearly vertical disposition whilethe front links 27 extend downwardly and rearwardly in a nearlyhorizontal disposition.

Analysis of the relative positions of the links 24 and 27 in FIGS. 4 and5 shows that, in moving from folded position to bed position, the links27 move first to a horizontal position, during which time the rear links24 must pivot a short distance rearwardly. This swings the entire foldedbed structure rearwardly so as to provide slight additional clearancewith respect to the front rail 13. The front links 27 then swingupwardly and forwardly to a nearly vertical position (FIG. 6) while therear links 24 move to their horizontal dead center position.Accordingly, at this point the entire folded bed frame is in a sharplyinclined position, with the front portion of the inner bed section 19above the plane which it occupies in bed position. The rear of thefolded bed is still very low, and for the most part is simply swungforwardly to clear the inclined back rest 15. During a second part ofthe movement from folded position to bed position the rear links swingfrom their horizontal dead center positions upwardly and rearwardly tobed position to elevate the rear of the inner bed section 19, while thefront links 27 swing rearwardly and thus lower the front of the innerbed section to bed position. It is seen that in bed position theconverging orientation of the rear links 24 and front links 27 providescompletely stable support for the inner bed section 19.

During the movement of the bed from the folded position of FIG. 5 totheintermediate position of FIG. 4 the action of the links 24 acts throughthe links 32 to roll back the hooked locking plates 34 and release thelocking studs 36, so that the outer bed section may be swung outwardlyto bring it and the end section 20 into horizontal alignment with theinner section 19.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness ofunderstanding only and no unnecessary limitations are to be understoodtherefrom, as some modications will be obvious to those skilled in theart.

I claim:

1. A davenport bed comprising, in combination: a base having end rails,a rear rail, and a front rail; a folding bed frame having an inner bedsection; and supporting link means pivotally connected to said end railsand to said inner bed section to move the latter between a bed positionabove the front rail and a folded position behind and a substantialdistance below a plane at the top of the front rail, said link meansincluding a pair of rear supporting links and a pair of front supportinglinks, said rear links and said front links in folded position extendingdownwardly and rearwardly, and their lengths and pivotal connections tothe base and the inner bed section being so related that during a rstpart of their movement toward bed position the front links swingforwardly to a nearly vertical position as the rear links swingforwardly past horizontal dead center and the inner bed section assumesa steeply inclined position, while during a second part Iof saidmovement said rear links swing upwardly and rearwardly to elevate therear of the inner bed section and the front links swing rearwardly tolower the front of said bed section, said rear and front linksconverging upwardly in bed position.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the rear links are nearlyvertical in folded position and the front links base having end rails, arear rail, and a front rail; a folding bed frame having an inner bedsection, a hinge section, and an outer section which are pivotallyconnected for movement between a coplanar bed position and anintermediate position with the hinge section upright at the front andthe outer section inverted above the inner section; supporting linkmeans pivotally connected to said end rails and to said inner bedsection to move the bed frame bodily between its intermediate positionand a folded position behind and substantially entirely below the frontrail, said links means including a pair of rear supporting links and apair of front supporting links, said rear links and said front links infolded position extending downwardly and rearwardly, and their lengthsand pivotal connections to the base and the inner bed section being sorelated that during a rst part of their movement toward bed position thefront links swing forwardly to a nearly vertical position as the rearlinks swing forwardly past horizontal dead center and the inner bedsection assumes a steeply inclined position, while during a second partof said movement said rear links swing upwardly and rearwardly toelevate the rear of the inner bed section and the front links swingrearwardly to lower the front of said bed section, said rear and frontlinks converging upwardly in bed position; hook-like locking platespivotally mounted on the inner bed section; locking links on the outersection having portions engageable by said locking plates duringmovement between inter mediate and folded positions; and lock actuatinglinks pivotally connected to the rear support links adjacent the innerbed section and to said locking plates so as to rotate said plates intolocking engagement with said locking links during movement toward foldedposition and rotate the plates out of said locking engagement duringmovement toward intermediate position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,105,928 8/14Rusnak 5-13 2,841,800 7/58 Thomas 5-13 2,960,699 1l/60 Fox et al. 5-13FOREIGN PATENTS 213,084 8/56 Australia. 846,609 8/ 52 Germany.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

3. A DAVENPORT BED COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: A BASE HAVING END RAILS, A REAR RAIL, AND A FRONT RAIL; A FOLDING BED FRAME HAVING AN INNER BED SECTION, A HINGE SECTION, AND AN OUTER SECTION WHICH ARE PIVOTALLY CONNECTED FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN A COPLANAR BED POSITION AND AN INTERMEDIATE POSITION WITH THE HINGE SECTION UPRIGHT AT THE FRONT AND THE OUTER SECTION INVERTED ABOVE THE INNER SECTION; SUPPORTING LINK MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID END RAILS AND TO SAID INNER BED SECTION TO MOVE THE SAID FRAME BODILY BETWEEN ITS INTERMEDIATE POSITION AND A FOLDED POSITION BEHIND AND SUBSTANTIAL ENTIRELY BELOW THE FRONT RAIL, SAID LINKS MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF REAR SUPPORTING LINKS AND A PAIR OF FRONT SUPPORTING LINKS, SAID REAR LINKS AND SAID FRONT LINKS IN FOLDED POSITION EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY AND REARWARDLY, AND THRIR LENGTHS AND PIVOTAL CONNECTIONS TO THE BASE AND THE INNER BED SECTION BEING SO RELATED THAT DURING A FIRST PART OF THEIR MOVEMENT TOWARD BED POSITION THE FRONT LINKS SWING FORWARDLY TO A NEARLY VERTICAL POSITION AS THE REAR LINKS SWING FORWARDLY PAST HORIZONTAL DEAD CENTER AND THE INNER BED SECTION ASSUMESA A STEEPLY INCLINED POSITION, WHILE DURING A SECOND PART OF SAID MOVEMENT SAID REAR LINKS SWING UPWARDLY AND REARWARDLY TO ELEVATE THE REAR OF THE INNER BED SECTION AND THE FRONT LINKS SWING REARWARDLY TO LOWER THE FRONT OF SAID BED SECTION, SAID REAR AND FRONT LINKS CONVERGING UPWARDLY IN BED POSITION; HOOK-LIKE LOCKING PLATES PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE INNER BED SECTION; LOCKING LINKS ON THE OUTER SECTION HAVING PORTION ENGAGEABLE LOCKING LINKS DURING MOVEMENT TOWARD FOLDED POSITION AND ROTATE THE PLATES OUT OF SAID LOCKING ENGAGEMENT DURING MOVEMENT TOWARD INTERMEDIATE POSITION. 